Lando Norris F1 title at risk as another McLaren blunder benefits Max Verstappen The NY Journals

The Formula 1 title race goes down to the final day in Abu Dhabi after Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri hurt by McLaren’s strategy blunder

Ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, Max Verstappen named McLaren’s blunders as the main reason why he has stayed in this Formula 1 title fight. On Sunday, they slipped up again to not only allow the Red Bull racer to remain in contention, but to give him a real chance of denying another British driver on the final day.

Of course, that’s how he became F1 champion for the first time, slipping past Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of that highly controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi race. And now, as he searches for a fifth consecutive crown, the Dutchman is only 12 points behind Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri is four points further adrift, giving us a first three-horse title showdown on the final day since 2010. That year, Sebastian Vettel dramatically came back from 15 points down to become world champion on the final day, winning while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished seventh having spent the night stuck behind Vitaly Petrov in the slow Renault.

“That’s a great story,” Verstappen said last night when reminded of that outcome. “It doesn’t always go like that, but we go in there with a positive mindset and we’ll try everything we can.”

A few moments earlier, the four-time champion had smirked when pointing out that McLaren had made “another” failure. That Red Bull sent strategy chief Hannah Schmitz up to the podium with Verstappen to collect the constructors’ trophy – a clear barb at their rivals – did not go unnoticed.

Shellshocked by the outcome, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella and chief executive Zak Brown both declined interviews in the pit lane. When the former did eventually speak, he did so to insist Norris will still not get preferential treatment despite Verstappen’s threat being more obvious than ever.

Stella said: “They are both in condition to win the world championship. We have to respect the fact that Oscar has his chances to win, therefore we are going to let them race.” While Piastri certainly is still in contention, his demeanour was that of a man who knows the odds are very much against him now.

“I’m feeling pretty crap, as you’d imagine,” he said. On what he can do in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Piastri added: “Just drive like I did this weekend. It was more than good enough to dominate this weekend. If I can do the same thing next weekend then I’ll be a happy man.”

Even if Piastri wins, he now needs Norris to finish sixth or lower which seems highly unlikely unless a mechanical failure or crash is involved. A podium is enough for the Brit to become world champion irrespective of what his rivals achieve.

He would have been only 10 ahead of Verstappen had Kimi Antonelli not slipped off track on the penultimate lap, allowing Norris to take fourth place. It was not nearly as dramatic as Hamilton overtaking Timo Glock on the last lap of the Brazil finale to win the 2008 title, but could prove to be just as consequential.

Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase suggested Antonelli had “pulled over and let Lando through”, while Red Bull veteran Helmut Marko claimed it was “so obvious” that Norris had been “waved by”. In response, an irritated Toto Wolff growled: “This is total, utter nonsense that blows my mind.

“We are fighting for second in the constructors’ championship, which is important for us. Kimi is fighting for a potential third in the race. I mean, how brainless can you be to even say something like this? It annoys me. Why would we do this? Why would we even think about interfering in a driver championship? You really need to check yourself and whether you are seeing ghosts.”

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